Do you ever feel so overwhelmed by a constant barrage of text messages, phone calls, and stressful thoughts that you don’t know what to do first? There’s no denying that it can be hard to concentrate in the information age, where there is an interruption waiting to disrupt your train of thought behind every corner. Boost your focus and think creatively in these four ways.
Act now (not later!).
“One of the illusions of life is that the present hour is not the critical, decisive hour. Write it on your heart that every day is the best day in the year. No man has learned anything rightly, until he knows that every day is Doomsday.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson
Most people are so caught up in stressful future things they can’t control that they don’t appreciate the things they can do right NOW to improve their life. Have you ever found yourself in a situation where you had to complete what sounded like a complicated project in a REALLY short period of time? If so, I bet you were surprised by how much work you can get done quickly when you have no other options. With that in mind, below are some common stressful thoughts that make it difficult to focus on the present moment, and the actionable solutions you should swap in their place.
“I don’t know how I’ll be ever able to afford (insert bill here).”
“I will save up some extra money by cutting all unnecessary expenses, working an extra shift, selling some clothes I never wear, offering to do yard-work or baby-sitting for my friends, or finding a side-hustle I can pursue on my own time.”
“I wish I could stop worrying about that hurtful thing my friend or partner said earlier.”
“I will confront them about this issue as soon as I get home, because I know things only get worse when I put off difficult conversations.”
“I don’t know if the person I like returns the feeling, and I can’t get them off my mind.”
“I will test the waters by inviting them to go play pool, see a movie, have a drink, (insert fun thing here). Even if they don’t like me, it would be better to find out sooner than later, because then I will be able to move on.”
Silence your phone.
“Do stuff. Be clenched, curious. Not waiting for inspiration’s shove or society’s kiss on your forehead. Pay attention. It’s all about paying attention. Attention is vitality. It connects you with others. It makes you eager. Stay eager.” — Susan Sontag
It is amazing that we carry around devices capable of accessing all of the knowledge known to man, yet we use them in the least productive way possible. There is nothing wrong with communicating with your friends via text, but leaving your cell phone’s volume turned up all the time is an open invitation for procrastination to sneak in. If a person really needs something, then they will leave a voice-mail (and as an added bonus, they’ll probably be a lot more concise about it than they would have been in an actual conversation).
Keep a book with you.
“Around here, however, we don’t look backwards for very long. We keep moving forward, opening up new doors and doing new things, because we’re curious…and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths.” — Walt Disney Company
Speaking of cell phones, stop pissing away every precious moment of silence you have by playing Angry Birds (or whatever silly game is popular these days). Keep a book in your car or purse to read during any unplanned down-time. You will engage your mind with an active learning experience that introduces you to new ideas, or in the case of fiction, be whisked away to a new world where you’ll be challenged to create a mental picture of characters that are only described in words. Consider keeping pen and paper with you at all times, too, because if you’re ever struck with a brilliant thought that you don’t want to risk forgetting, you’ll be able to write it down as soon as it occurs to you.
Take a break to meditate.
“Lack of direction, not lack of time, is the problem. We all have twenty-four hour days.”
― Zig Ziglar
Your brain can only focus on a task for 45 minutes at a time, so you might want to take a mini-break once per hour to improve your concentration. You could take a quick walk outside, look at the sky, identify cloud shapes, quiet your inner-chatter, and listen to bird songs. If you have a job that won’t allow you to escape your desk, you could simply stand up and stretch out the areas of your body that feel stiff. And before you get back to work, take a moment to meditate (it only takes a minute!).
How do you think creatively despite the interruptions that surround you? Tell us in the comments, then click the share button to invite your friends to the conversation.
Featured photo credit: Bos Ross/Sip and Splash via sipandsplash.com
